This investigation is concerned with mothers' use of reasoning and power assertion in the course of controlling their children's behavior. Data on these disciplinary techniques are based on mothers' own trained observations of their reactions to children's misbehaviors in the home as well as observations of mothers and children in a laboratory setting. One focus is the study of the kinds of reasoning mothers use for children of different ages and in response to different misbehaviors. The determinants of mothers' choice of reasoning in response to different misbehaviors and in response to reoccurrences of the same misbehavior over time are also studied.